Four Teams Confirmed for 2011 Legends Classic in East Rutherford

This is around the time that challenge and classic games start getting schedule for college basketball programs, as we saw with the matchups for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge that were announced a few days ago.

There’s another tournament schedule to discuss now, as the top four teams for the 2011 Legends Classic have been announced.

The North Carolina State Wolfpack, Oregon State Beavers, Texas Longhorns, and Vanderbilt Commodores will all be hosts for opening round games in November. And then regardless of whether they win or lose those games, all four will advance to play in the Meadowlands on November 19 in the semis.

I like this mix of teams at the top of this classic, though we’ll have to wait and find out who they’ll be playing in opening round action.

Vanderbilt will likely be a pre-season Top 10 team, while Texas could still make a push to get in there as well, despite losing some great talent to the NBA Draft.

Meanwhile, North Carolina State has a new coach in Mark Gottfried, who could certainly get off on the right foot by winning this classic. It’ll be a challenge since they aren’t exactly loaded right now, but playing against a Vandy or a Texas will brace them for ACC competition.

Oregon State struggled mightily this past season, only going 11-20, but should be a little better next year.

We’ll wait and see who else joins the field. A Vandy-Texas championship game would be a lot of fun. Of course, N.C. State and Oregon State fans might feel differently though.

Want more March Madness talk? You can follow me on Twitter (@theblakelovell), or check out our Facebook page for more college basketball discussion!